Chapter 1019

The name Cui Ying is not in the glossary, so we romanize it as Cui Ying.

Although his rough cheeks, battered by wind and frost, still flushed a little, his speech was a bit halting, his forehead even breaking out in a faint sweat, yet his words were resonant and forceful, his voice surprisingly loud.

Faced with countless officers of higher rank, he exerted all his strength, almost shouting as he recounted the countless merits their brigade had earned after surrendering.

Lu Ping'an is not in the glossary; we romanize it as Lu Ping'an.

Feng Linchuan is not in the glossary; we romanize it as Feng Linchuan.

Faced with the reality of no chance for promotion, these soldiers simply muddled through, living each day like a monk who only strikes the bell for the day.

After surrendering to Chen Wuji, let alone being well-fed, they actually received military pay, and the road to promotion lay plainly before them, clear as day.

As long as they had military merit, nothing remained an unattainable wish.

This group completely abandoned their lax attitude, with Feng Linchuan being the first to exert effort.

This is also the highest point the brigade's soldiers have reached so far.

Feng Linchuan and Cui Ying appear again.

The entire brigade, 422 soldiers, including the officers who had gone out earlier, were all disciples of Cui Ying; however, Cui Ying never had them formally become his disciples, only addressing each other as comrades-in-arms.

Chen Wuji heard this and interrupted Cui Ying: "They've already gone out; why are you still here? Did you distribute the merit?"

Cui Ying appears again, and the expression translates to 'My lord, forgive me.'

I, your humble servant, am not at ease about these brothers; their boxing skills are not yet refined enough, making them vulnerable on the battlefield. I want to train them further, but we, the surrendered troops, need to earn merit, to stand out so the lord can see us, and to prove we are not the worthless lot we once were.

"But I, as a subordinate, distribute merit based on ability; I won't give it to the useless. Whether it's Feng Linchuan or Meng Qingshen and others, they are all genuinely capable fighters."

Chen Wuji waved his hand: "I don't mean to blame you; you voluntarily gave up your own merit, which is against regulation, but no one can say anything about it."

Southwest Chu Wang is in the glossary.

"Here!" Cui Ying clasped his hands with a guilty look, then continued to recount how the brigade came to be.

In which battle they killed how many enemies, who performed outstandingly, who had the most merit, and what impact they had on the overall situation—Cui Ying knew all these details by heart, without needing any cheat sheet.

Chen Wuji appears again, and the term refers to various camp officers.

Guo Songbai is in the glossary.

No.

"We receive the highest pay, yet we have achieved a performance that brings shame upon our lord."

Chen Wuji appears again, and the title Cui Lüehou is in the glossary.

Chen Wushuang is not in the glossary, but we can romanize it as Chen Wushuang.

"Yo, you've been shut off for so many days—have you opened your apertures?" Chen Wuji teased, asking.

These past few days, Wushuang has been acting as if possessed, running to the mountain behind the Lìng whenever he has free time, staying there for half a day; Chen Wuji had originally planned that if the boy still hadn't come out after a day or two, he would use some methods to open his apertures, but he never expected the boy to say something like this.

Wushuang gave a hesitant smile: "My lord, I just have some things I can't figure out; I need to think about it, it's not that exaggerated. It's merely a mishap in a gutter, not enough to keep me from standing."

No.

"Almost there; I might still need to think a bit more."

"Pretty good, but don't delay training!" Chen Wuji looked at Cui Ying and asked, "Is what he said correct?"

Cui Ying scratched his neck, gave an embarrassed laugh, and said: "My lord, actually I don't know if it's right or wrong. I just thought of these things and went ahead and did them; there aren't many reasons behind them."

"You can have no reason, but they need a reason—do you think it's right or wrong?"

Cui Ying thought for a moment: "Pretty much right. These brothers all come from poor backgrounds; I want them to live well, earn great military merit, then return home happily to honor their parents and raise their wives and children."

"I've always told them, we are comrades-in-arms; comrades-in-arms are like brothers from different mothers. In daily life we can settle accounts with our own brothers like kin, but on the battlefield we must wholeheartedly entrust our backs to our comrades-in-arms—you clear the path, I will break through those obstructive hindrances."

"Probably it's because my words as a subordinate were effective, so our brigade, every time we charge into battle, can twist ourselves into a sharp blade and establish these merits."

Chen Wuji looked around the crowd: "Now you've all heard clearly, right? Each of you is an elite selected from the elite by me, but being elite doesn't mean you've already reached the pinnacle."

"This path has no peak, only higher!"

"All of you can still go higher, with great potential. At the very least, you should reach the point where you reveal your designation number, making the whole world tremble! At the very least, you must make everyone in this realm know——"

"Whoever offends our mighty Han, no matter how far, will be punished!"

"You must make everyone under heaven understand that this saying is no joke, nor mere boasting, but that we truly possess this ability—so that no matter where enemies flee to the ends of the earth, we can still kill them!"

"Gentlemen, the burden is heavy and the road long!"

All the generals.

Everyone's eyes were filled with generous, high-spirited fighting spirit.

The emergence of Cui Ying's brigade truly created enormous pressure for these people.

They used to walk with their heads held high, regardless of achievements or status, giving them many reasons for pride, but the achievements created by Cui Ying's brigade actually overwhelmed them all.

What will happen next, Chen Wuji doesn't know for now, but at this moment his goal has been achieved.

"I looked through old ancient books, and in the book I saw a very strong elite heavily armored infantry; they numbered only seven hundred, and military discipline was strict. The commander was upright and unbending, did not drink alcohol, did not take bribes, loyal and upright, praised by people of the time!" Chen Wuji saw that the atmosphere had been sufficiently built up, and then he slowly spoke.

"This body of Bīngmǎ, whenever there is war, they must be the vanguard to break enemy formations, and they win every battle; they were one of the three great elite units of the time, and their lord bestowed upon them the name Storming the Formation Lìng."

"Today, I want to pass on the spirit of storming the formation of the Storming the Formation Lìng. Cui Ying, what do you think of the Storming the Formation Lìng? If you have no objections, from now on, you will be the Storming the Formation Lìng!"